All of us have or will experience significant loss in our life. All of us have or will experience emotional pain that makes us feel as if we are the only ones who have ever experienced what we are going through. There is a heaviness that seems inescapable. It feels as if there is a weight sitting on our heart crushing it with no relief in sight.
There may be moments when the pain is lessened, or not as readily felt, but other times it so strong, so deep, so complete that it feels like we are experiencing a kind of hell on earth that make any moment when it is lightened feel insignificant at best.
Each of us experience a different moment. Foolishly, we even judge between us which is more severe than another, as if your pain is less than mine it doesn’t warrant attention. What I hope we can do together this morning is pull the curtain back on the human condition. Pain is a very real and deep part of that experience.
For whatever reason, we typically don’t give a lot of weight to the experiences of heartache, those soul crushing experiences that so many of us face. We understand physical pain. We build hospitals and excuse people from work if they get physically hurt. Not quite as much for when we face emotional pain.
The God we serve is very much for those whose hearts are broken and spirits are down. It is something the writers of old understood. Here are just a few examples.
Psalm 34:18
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Proverbs 12:25
Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: But a good word maketh it glad.
Proverbs 25:20
As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, So is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.
When the verse in Psalms says a contrite spirit, it is talking about someone whose spirit is broken, they feel empty. Then the wisdom of Proverbs tells us that the heaviness in our hearts has an effect on everything else we do, then warns us that trying to just be cheery and so forth with someone who is in despair is like taking away a coat from someone in the cold or mixing vinegar and baking soda.
What’s more is we think that if Jesus is with us then there should be no more pain. It’s just not true though. We see that when Jesus came there was still pain. We are familiar with the Christmas story, we think about the wisemen and the angels and so forth, but there is a part we often skip over.
I think maybe we don’t stop to consider how those that were there experienced His coming. It was good news coming into the world, but it wasn’t without pain. When the wisemen came, it was a threat to Herod. The bible says the news of the birth of the king born at the rising of the star in the east “troubled him, and all of Israel with him”.
The response to this threat was ruthless and brought perhaps the most painful loss that any person can possibly experience.
Matthew 2:16-18
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, Lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, And would not be comforted, because they are not.
Can you imagine the pain of these mothers? Can you imagine the pain of the nation at the sound of children being slaughtered so that a ruler could hold power? There can be no greater pain or sorrow than that of losing a child. It’s hard to think about. Even in the moments that I tried to even consider how it would feel to lose a child, I can’t bear to go through with it because just the thought is too much for me. We may even ask where is God in the middle of that? It’s a fair question.
We may even be asking where is God in the middle of my pain? Does He see me and does He care? The answer is yes, and yes. Maybe just not in the way that we imagine or would have chosen.
Just as Jesus was there, He is here now. He sees your pain and more importantly, it matters to Him. He sees you. He loves you. He wants to be comfort for you in the midst of your darkest nights. He is here. As we have talked about in this series, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and life was put inside her, the Holy Spirit has come upon us and we have been made alive.
It doesn’t mean that moment is the end of pain and suffering. It wasn’t true when Jesus was born, it isn’t true for us today. That life wells up inside of us and changes us, not the world around us. We live in a broken world, filled with broken people. All of us have experienced loss and pain. All of us struggling in some way. The difference is the Holy Spirit. Remember last week we talked about the power given us by God?
That power gives us the faith to step out even when we are afraid, and it gives us comfort in our pain. That is both supernatural, in that it comes directly from God in our quiet times with Him, but it is also natural in that we are supposed to comfort one another, strengthen one another, and give hope to one another. It’s the idea that Paul wrote about to the church in Corinth.
2 Corinthians 1:3-11
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: but we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf
He said God comforted the in all the tribulation, he goes on to talk about how they were afraid even for their lives. This is a deep tribulation. They were afraid and they were in pain. There are two things we should see in this passage though.
God comforted them so they could comfort others who were in trouble.
They were able to overcome because they didn’t trust in themselves but in the God who raises the dead.
Are we bringing our pain to God? Do you know how God comforted Paul and his companions? They spent time in solitude with their God. We keep ourselves so busy that we never deal with the pain. We mask over it. We don’t sit with God and let him mend our hearts.
Don’t get me wrong, if your pain is the loss of a loved one, the pain we feel never leaves us, but it can be ministered to. God wants the quiet time with us to deep work on our heart and soul. He wants to meet the need. He wants to take our mourning and use it for His glory.
Sometimes I wonder if we don’t want our pain ministered to. Our pain is not fair, it’s not right, so there is nothing that should lessen it. It is almost as if our wounding is our identity and we don’t want to let that go.
The question is do we trust in God more than ourselves? Do we trust His judgment? Are we willing to open ourselves up to whatever He has knowing that He is the God that raises the dead. In other words, there is something bigger than this life. There is something we look to for our hope, that is beyond the here and now.
If we don’t believe that, then our desires now will win out 100% of the time. We will let our pain and fears dictate our actions. We will be slaves to them. That’s not the worst part. The worst part is that we will never learn to truly minister to the hurt around us. God wants to use us as agents of hope and change. We are a part of something so much bigger.
Here is what I know for certain, emotional pain is going to happen. The brokenness of this world will continue to happen until the return of Jesus. Until then, all of us will be hurt from time to time. Will we bring that pain to Him? Will we allow ourselves to be healed so we can bring healing?
To end our time together I want to use a passage that most of us our familiar with. It is the woman at the well. Instead of reading the story, I want to show you a clip from a show called “the chosen”. The bring to life the story that I think helps us see the emotional pain the woman in the story was experiencing and Jesus speaking to that need.
(play clip)
John 4:7-26
There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
Everyone around this woman only saw that she had been married 5 times. They only saw her behavior; they didn’t see the hurt. We don’t know the story. What was just depicted might have been close, but the bigger point is it doesn’t matter. Jesus saw a person who needed help. Do we? When we see others acting out, do we look beyond what they are doing and think of the need?
When we break a leg, we can’t walk the same. Maybe we can’t walk at all. We can see the physical pain take a toll on a person. When we are emotionally wounded, we can’t walk the same. Maybe we can’t walk at all.
What if we let Jesus speak to our hurt and minister to our pain so that we can be His hands and feet to go and minister the good news to others? We are going to end service by spending some time with Jesus today. I am going to ask you to stay here until the song less like me is done. If you want to leave after that, you are dismissed.
But, I want to encourage you to stay here until God has spoken to your hurt. I want us to spend some time in His presence allowing Him to work on our hearts because we need to be able to go out and tell the world about the messiah who knows everything we have ever done. Spend a few minutes alone with Him this morning and then if you feel led, pray with the people around you. God has comfort for you this morning, I pray we will receive it.